Prologue
Leo
I stand in the middle of the empty warehouse, a sai in each hand. A lot of people don’t know this about me but I’m a black belt in karate, but I also studied kobudo. Not many realize that this isn’t the same as karate. This is the use of weapons. Weapons I know how to use.
I squat low, bringing one of the sai in front of me and slowly rising. My arms move fluidly with the rest of my body as I spin and thrust. That’s when I see Phoenix watching me from the doorway. He doesn’t interrupt, just watches until I’m finished. Then I put my sais away and stroll toward him, sweat dripping down my temples.
“You get a hard-on watchin’ me?” I tease him. He shakes his head, a smile on his face.
“It’s somethin’ else seein’ you like that. So damn focused and in tune with yourself. Wish I could be more like that,” he says. I nod my head understanding that completely. I was the same way before I learned.
“Heard that. What brings you here?”
“Need to talk to you about some things. Kenna’s pregnant,” he says, taking me by surprise. I love Kenna to death but I also know she’s a badass. Not one I pictured having kids.
“No shit? Congratulations, brother.” I pull him into a hug, slapping his back before pulling away.
“Thanks, man. So, here’s the thing. Kenna has some shit she’s handlin’ now that she’s in charge. She needs help and I need her to rest. She’s been worn out lately and I don’t want her overdoin’ it. I need to step back a bit.”
“Meanin’ what?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. I watch the man, the one that has led us to greatness as he falters for the first time since I’ve known him. “Spit it out, Phoenix.”
“I need to step back for a while and help her. She needs me now. I just feel like I’m turnin’ my back on the club,” he says looking sick to his stomach.
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? We all know what that girl means to you, brother. She needs you, that’s where you belong. The club is runnin’ smoothly. The expansion is goin’ great. Do what you need to do.” He nods his head, running his hand over his face.
“That means you have to step up for a while. You good with that?”
“When would I not be good with that? This club is my life too, Phoenix. You know that much.” He nods his head before blowing out a breath.
“Heard that. I just wanted to be sure you were ready to step up. We have a lot of shit goin’ on right now.”
“I got this. No worries, brother. Where’s my girl?” I ask looking around him for Kenna.
“Outside. She wanted me to tell you.” Nodding my head, I slap a hand on his shoulder before walking past him and heading out the side door. There she is, sunglasses pulled down over her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest.
“You couldn’t tell me? What did you think I was gonna do?” I ask her, a smirk on my face.
“I was nervous,” she states.
“Shouldn’t be. I’m damn proud of you, darlin’.” I reach for her and pull her into my arms. “Damn proud of you.”
“Thanks, Leo. That means a lot to me and you know that.”
“Don’t thank me. We’re family. We have each other’s backs just like always. You and Phoenix do what you need to do. I got the club,” I tell her. She nods and pulls out of my arms moving straight into Phoenix’s. I watch the two of them and know that this is exactly where I’m meant to be in life.
Chapter One
Antonia
The corner of Sebastian Street and N. Fort Lauderdale Boulevard has never felt less like home. Ironic considering I’ve spent a good portion of my life here at the Oasis Beach night club. It was supposed to be my home away from home, considering it’s my father’s. But man, he had other plans. More or less, it feels like a prison.
You see, my father is the longtime President for the Aces of Night MC. His name is Edge because he pushes people to their limits, to their edge per se. He’ll push until he can’t push any longer. That leads me to where I am right now, about to be pushed over the limit, because he’s just said he knows about my meeting with my mother from earlier.
Now I sit on the black leather chair in his VIP section. He sits across from me, sipping on his whiskey. So typical of him.
His right-hand man, Talon, sits beside him. His eyes are glued on me, like a bird surveying ‘its prey. His hair is combed back in that Chris Evans’ lookalike kind of way. He isn’t an officer with the club, but what he is . . . is something entirely different. Protégé wouldn’t be the right word, but neither would stalker. He’s been around the club for the last year, flying through the ranks far too quickly for my liking.
“Did you not hear me, my dear?” My father questions in a sarcastic manner with a snicker at the end. He’s not even trying to be an asshole, he’s already being one.
Balling my fist from underneath the table until I dig my stiletto nails into my skin, I smile, faking this the best way I can. “What’re you trying to say? You always seem to be the one who knows things. If knowing is assuming, that is.”
My father leans back against his chair and rubs his hand over his mouth as his smile grows wider. “Shit, you really think I don’t have anyone watching Antonetta?”
Antonetta, my mother. Who’s also the current Boss of the Italian mafia in Rome, or as I call it, Roma. I’m fluent in both Italian and English. It wasn’t a choice I willingly made, but being passed around between two continents will do that to you. My parents couldn’t stay together more than a year, but by that point I was already a bun in the oven as they say.
Mother being a strict Catholic would never abort me, and my father never wanted to be a dad. But, he’s never been the type of man to stray away from his duty . . . even if that meant the responsibility of a child. Even now at twenty-six years old, I’m unsure of whether that’s a blessing or a curse.
“I thought you haven’t been obsessed with her in years,” I snicker, slightly mocking him. Picking up the chilled glass of vodka in front of me, I finish it off.
“How adorable. I’ve struck a chord, haven’t I, sweetie?” The term sweetie isn’t like a normal man calling his daughter a sweetie, or sweetheart. Nope, my father uses it as a way to treat me as a child, an irrelevant nuisance.
“If you did, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Honestly, the only thing you’re doing is annoying the fucking shit out of me.”
Again, his smile grows wider. Shit, it’s frustrating. “I’ll dive right in then. I’ve caught wind your mother is planning on handing over the mafia to you when she steps down, and that the beautiful Antonia DeGrossi will become the head honcho in Rome.” He waves his hand around like my mother does while she speaks, imitating her to a T.
I fight the urge to roll back my eyes, hating how both of them will make jabs at one another in front of me. Sometimes I become curious to know if they think I’ll tell the other. I won’t confirm what he’s said, knowing better.